The Wastelander
by Scarlett Abner
Summary: When Scarlett wakes in the middle of the Wasteland with no memory of the last few months she begins on an epic quest to find her sister, uncovering lost secrets along the way. An original story based around the Fallout universe.


Chapter 1 : Running

Her bare feet slapped nosily on the packed dirt that had become somewhat of a road to her home. Her heart pounded in her ears both from fear and anticipation. Violet had decided to stay in the cave they played in while Scarlett ran ahead to inform their parents of the upcoming danger. Her twin sister was always so afraid, of the dark, of spiders, of dogs…. the list went on and on. Scarlett, of course, was afraid of those things as well, but she felt she must protect her sister from all that the girl feared, even if that meant overcoming her own phobias.

It was weird that Scarlett was so protective of her sister, who was in fact twenty-six minutes older, but that was how it had always been. Scarlett was the one in charge and Violet usually didn't resent listening to her. Usually. There was that one time when Scarlett had decided she wanted to blow bubbles longer then she was allowed, cutting into Violet's bubble blowing time. The two had gotten into a nasty fight that their mother had had to split up. As a result, Scarlett wasn't allowed to blow any more bubbles for the rest of the day. It was such a small thing but Scarlett realized that leadership meant sacrifice for those you led. She didn't mind giving up the bubbles for her sister. Sure, she cried at the time, but looking back at it she realized the importance of the lesson.

The first level of the warehouse they called home was filled with a variety of garbage and junk to make the place appear abandoned to anyone who might harbor them ill will. Scarlett's family lived in the second story and her parents worked in the basement. The twins weren't forbidden from going down there but they didn't like it very much. It had a lot of boring charts adorning the walls and boring equipment cluttering the floor. Scarlett's father had tried to explain what he was doing once but the duo took no interest. They would much rather act out their favorite bedtime stories in their little cave. It was hard sometimes, with a cast of only two, but they seemed to work it out.

Today, Scarlett didn't hesitate in running down the concrete steps to the basement. It was mid-afternoon and her parents were tirelessly working on their project. The six-year-old's eyes adjusted quite slowly to the dim lighting of the basement but when they did, she saw her parents, pointing at their charts and examining their equipment. They looked like they were extremely happy and Scarlett hated to crush that but she couldn't withhold what she had seen for a moment longer.

"Mommy, I saw…." Scarlett had run up to her mother, Solveig, who was her likeness in every way, red hair, green eyes, she had gotten it all from her. However, her father Seamus interrupted her, scooping the little girl up in his grease covered arms.

"Carl, today is a good day. Let's go get Violet. We need to celebrate." He held onto one hand as he pretended to waltz with her. Usually it would have her giggling, but not today.

"Daddy…." But this time her mother interrupted her.

"Sea, we are not quite done here. Let's not start counting our chickens before they hatch."

"Who's counting? I just want to go celebrate with the family…. But if you'd rather stay in this dingy basement all day…" Scarlett's mother laughed loudly at an inside joke Scarlett wasn't privy too.

"You know that I don't, dear." He laughed as well but Scarlett called their attention back to her by fidgeting in her father's arms until he let her down.

"I'm sorry honey, we're just so excited. What did you need to tell us?"

"Those giant green people are coming. We saw them from our cave. I decided to run back and tell you but they look really…." The minute Scarlett mentioned green people all the smiles drained from her parents faces. Seamus continued to hold onto her hand but dragged her over to a cabinet that Scarlett and Violet were under strict orders never to unlock. She saw why now as the doors opened and inside laid dozens of assorted guns. Seamus took a shotgun and rifle, pulling their straps over his shoulder. He grabbed a few clips from a box at the bottom of the cabinet and put them in his pocket, followed shortly by a few shells. Scarlett looked around to see where her mother had gone and found her tearing the diagrams off the walls and covering the machinery on the floor with huge tarps. Then the woman was at Seamus' side, grabbed a handgun and rifle for herself, and ushered them all upstairs. She pushed a button and a metal door closed over the stairs when they left, forbidding access to the basement completely.

Scarlett was frightened now. They had seen the green people before but her parents dealt with it quietly, sending the twins to their room and getting them when it was all over. But this time they were caught completely off guard and, even though she was only six, Scarlett could see the panic in her parents' eyes.

They got to the first story and could already see the approaching green men in the distance. They had fearsome looking guns and tough skin. They were incredibly strong creatures, bald with a face locked forever in a frightening grimace. Scarlett didn't want to look at their scary faces so she covered her eyes.

"Damn it and we just gave up the car."

"We had to Sol. We needed that final piece." He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Alright, you take Scarlett and run up to the cave. Wait for a day and if I don't show up then leave to Megaton without me." Solveig said, lining up a shot in the scope of her rifle.

"No, we are all leaving right now!"

"You know we can't all leave. They'd see us run for it. You take Scarlett and I'll try to hold them off."

"Don't ask me to do this Sol. I can't leave you behind."

"You have to. You are much faster than me and I am a much better shot. I'll distract them while you make a break for it. Take the girls to Megaton and, if I can, I'll meet you there." The green people were getting closer.

"Sol please you take the girls….." Scarlett heard her father's voice waver and it frightened her more than the monsters coming to kill them.

"Go now Sea, they are way too close. I love you." With that final sentence Solveig opened fire on the large group of creatures headed toward their home. Seamus didn't get to respond, ducking behind the junk, he held Scarlett close to him as he ran for both of their lives. Scarlett felt wetness dripping down from his face but was too scared to look up.

The race to the cave seemed to take much longer then it had for Scarlett to get to the warehouse. A few times Seamus ducked behind a rock and waited a moment to be sure no one saw them. The sound of shots, not only that of her mothers, echoed through the small valley, but grew quieter the farther they ran.

The cave stood overlooking the entire valley and by the time they got there, Violet already knew that something bad was happening.

"Where's mommy?" She asked, tears in her eyes.

"She's gonna meet up with us in a little bit, ok? Now you guys go play back there, I'm gonna sit here and wait for her." He put Scarlett down and she ran with Violet to the back of the cave, telling her everything. They two girls say huddled together hugging while the sounds of gunfire continued. Suddenly, it stopped and a sound of uproarious victory replaced it. It was coming from the green people.

Seamus left the cave mouth and went to his daughters who knew all too well what that meant. The family sat together, comforting each other as the super mutants below tore through their home looking for the rest of the family. Scarlett wasn't sure why they needed to kill so badly and she didn't care. Her family was one member short now and that was all that mattered to her. She wanted to be mad at her father for leaving her mom but didn't have a chance to be, Violet was angry at him for her.

"Why did you leave her daddy? Why didn't you stay with her? " Seamus cradled Violet's face in his hands and looked straight into the eyes that matched his own.

"Because Vio, There comes a point in your life when you have to choose between what is right and what is easy. It would have been easy to stay with your mother but the right thing was to get you two to safety and I don't regret it for a second. I know how sad you are but your mom wanted to protect you and the fact that you two are safe…" Seamus' words caught in his throat and Scarlett noticed the tears in his eyes.

"Go to sleep, we are heading out as soon as it gets dark." He handed them his jacket for a pillow and returned to his station at the mouth of the cave. Violet and Scarlett held each other as they silently cried themselves to sleep and right before she finally drifted off, Scarlett thought she could hear her father crying too.


End file.
